Christmas Thoughts

This year was the first Christmas that we've spent with family in 5 years.  Joel is the only one of the kids who remembers having this kind of holiday with the cousins or the grandmas and grandpas.

And it was Elena's first Christmas ever.  Pretty special.

I admit, it was daunting thinking of all the hustle and bustle of the North American run-away-consumerism holiday.  Having Christmas in the cold and dark instead of the humid and the heat, or at least the fog was something to get used to too.

But it was a good Christmas.  We spent a lot of time with our family and a few things that the kids said were, "Wow!  I didn't know that our family was so much fun" and "This is just lovely, oh so lovely" and "Grandma is probably the best cook in the entire universe".  It warmed my heart to see our kids participating in family traditions and truly understanding the meaning of Christmas.

A few times however, my heart ached a bit, remembering last Christmas and where we were at.  I remember so clearly that I was feeling huge and hot and sweaty and tired.  I remember being excited about the prospect of having a real Bolivian Christmas dinner with our friends and being utterly moved by the emotion of welcoming Jesus' birth by tears and hugs and kisses and of course metric tonnes of fire crackers at the stroke of midnight.

Our Christmas here was with family, last year it was with dear friends
This year we ate turkey, last year we ate pork and chicken and beef
This year at the stroke of midnight all was quiet....
This year we bundled up, all 6 of us, last year we sweated, just the 5 of us

Both holidays have significant meaning for us.  Even though they have been so different, we count ourselves rich to be able to have those experiences.  And more than the presents (which by the way were appreciated!) we had another opportunity to make memories.